Stella Dallas |  | Director: King Vidor
Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Anne Shirley, Barbara O'Neil, Alan Hale
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
Buy New: $29.95
as of 11/22/2009 17:07 CST details
New (15) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $23.79
Seller: extra_mile_4_you
Rating:  35 reviews
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: MGMD1004045D
UPC: 027616881526
EAN: 0027616881526
Theatrical Release Date: August 6, 1937
Release Date: March 8, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A lower class mother selflessly sends her daughter to her upper crust father and his wife so she can have a better life. Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 03/08/2005 Starring: Barbara Stanwyck Anne Shirley Run time: 104 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com essential video
Barbara Stanwyck gave one of her inimitable and wonderfully enigmatic performances as a mill worker who marries her way into high society and soon experiences layers of frustration. Channeling her restlessness, she soon makes a positive though highly self-sacrificial decision on her daughter's behalf, and endures the agony of being replaced in her husband's life by an old, blue-blooded flame. King Vidor (The Crowd) directs with a fascinating sense of duality about Stanwyck's character: is her lower-caste vulgarity something to sneer at or something to applaud for the contrast she presents to the mannered upper classes? Stanwyck plays the riddle brilliantly, right down to the final moment of her character's weird self-satisfaction at being ostracized from her daughter's honeyed life. --Tom Keogh
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
 good movie September 29, 2009
true crime reader
this is a good movie. What Stella went through for her daughter showed true love.
 Powerful Drama Guaranteed To Evoke Emotions May 1, 2009
Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Make no mistake: this is a soap opera, plain and simple. Normally, that turns me off but I didn't mind here because Barbara Stanwyck is just superb to watch. Playing the title role, she dominates the film, and that's fine with me. I usually find her an interesting woman who makes her characters come alive.
This is a powerful story, especially so, I would presume, if you are the mother of a teenage girl. Here, Anne Shirley plays Stanwyck's daughter. What "Stella" (Stanwyck) does at the end of the film makes for a great story but I doubt, frankly, if any mother could do that. The story is guaranteed to make some impact your emotions! I don't want to say more to spoil anything.
I enjoyed John Boles role in here and really, really liked Barbara O'Neil's character, "Helen Morrison Dallas." Personally, I couldn't watch this many times but if I think it has so much to offer that I readily understand those who would watch this over and over. It has a lot going for it.
A Sentimental Sacrifice March 2, 2009
Bobby Underwood (Bakersfield, California United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is quite telling that Frank Borzage and King Vidor, two film pioneers who both began in the silent art form of film, were quite successful in the transition to sound. And perhaps because of their origins, brought a sensitivity to sentimental dramas better than anyone else in Hollywood. In other hands, Stella Dallas might have been a maudlin soaper, but with Vidor at the helm, and Barbara Stanwyck in front of Rudolph Mate's camera lens, Stella Dallas is a memorable drama of a mother's love for her daughter.
Samuel Goldwyn had a long association with King Vidor and this is one of their finest collaborations as producer and director. The novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and adaptation by Sarah Y Mason and Victor Heerman had sudser written all over it. Yet sensitive direction, a wonderful score by Alfred E. Newman, and sparkling performances from Stanwyck and Anne Shirley turn this into a screen classic; albeit a dated one. There is more to this film than just Stanwyck and Shirley, however, and the story within the story sometimes gets lost when this film is talked about.
Stella (Barbara Stanwyck) is young and full of ambition to rise above her mill worker life. It is 1919 as her story begins to unfold, Stella pining for Stephen Dallas (John Boles), who missed his chance at happiness with a society girl when his father went broke. Stella is sweet, and keeps herself in front of him until he notices. It isn't long before they are married, and Stella gets a taste of the nicer life and respectability she desires. Her other side of the tracks upbringing, however, keeps getting in the way. Vidor does a wonderful job of straddling the fence as regards Stella; showing her as both garish and sweet. But she is a clay her husband wants to mold into something she is not, rather than loving her for what she is. Vidor shows that as much as Stella's behavior can be blamed for the couple's problems, so can Stephen's refusal to loosen up and be proud of his wife.
Not long after a beautiful baby enters their lives, Stella finds a pal in Ed (Alan Hale), whose good heart but lurid behavior at least doesn't make her feel ashamed of herself. Both Vidor and Stanwyck make no excuses for Stella's behavior, yet in doing so, show the deeper truth that had Stephen loved her for who she was, things might have been different. Separated and raising her Laurel (Anne Shirley) alone while Stephen falls in love all over again with Helen Morrison (Barbara O'Neil), and sees the life he actually wanted, Stella stays married, perhaps hoping that one day he will come back and love her for who she is. Stanwyck is marvelous in a scene where he comes to visit Laurel at Christmas and for a moment her hope burns bright, then fades like fingers putting out the flame from a candle.
After the inevitable divorce occurs, Stella makes every sacrifice for her daughter, trying to give her refined Laurel all the society trappings she deserves. But a moment on a train where Stella overhears Laurel's friends talking, sets in motion a heartbreaking sacrifice for both Stella and Laurel. Barbara O'Neil is quite marvelous in what could have been an unsympathetic role. She makes Helen a kind woman who Laurel cares for and is good for Stephen. And she is also kind and understanding in regards to Stella. She is no home-wrecker, only a woman caught in a terribly difficult situation. Stanwyck is stellar here, making you dislike her one moment, and love her the next. The love she has for her daughter is shown in all the dresses she makes for her by hand; all copies of society fashions.
Often lost in the hoopla over the subject matter and Stanwyck's performance is the equally tremendous job turned in by Anne Shirley in the role of Lolly (Laurel). She is radiant as a young woman full of refinement and happiness but basking in her mother's devotion to her. Her romantic moments with Richard (Tim Holt) and heartbreak which follows show the contrast between the world Stella wants for her and where she belongs, and the reality of being Stella's daughter among the blue bloods. Laurel knows her mother needs her, however, just as she needed her mother growing up, so Stella's first attempt at sacrifice fails. What follows is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and a rich and mature look at what it is to be a parent and let go at the right time.
This film rises above a mere soaper, giving a rich and even mature look at how imperfect people can create something wonderful, even at their own expense. A sentimental film classic.
A wonderful mom story. May 22, 2008
D. Newland (N. California Mountains)
The mom (Barbara Stanwyck) is a tacky, tastless woman, but loves her little daughter so very much that she makes what I consider to be the ultimate sacrafice. I won't ruin the end for you by saying what she does, but it is one of my favorite old movies.
Don't bother with the re-make, which I believe was done in the 90's sometime. It's a terrible dissapointment.
Nice but not the best April 21, 2008
Amaral (VA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The movie itself is the best,,,Barbara is awesome but the quality of the movie is not the best..Otherwise I love it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
|
|
|
